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English toffee

english toffee

It snowed some this morning so I decided to make english toffee. I thought this treat must be incredibly difficult to make so I was quite surprised when it turned out that every recipe I looked at was practically the same. I must give credit to The Accidental Hedonist for giving me the courage to move forward. Actually, if I had only looked at the Better Homes & Garden Cookbook I would have given up on this right away. Has anyone else noticed how they overly complicate their recipes? For the english toffee they instruct to butter the sides of the saucepan, you know, the one your melting 2 sticks of butter in!!! That’s silly.

Anyway I succeeded despite not having a candy thermometer. I improvised and used my instant-read meat thermometer instead. It was scary the way the sugar and butter got really viscous and super hot and I was stirring and stirring and not really knowing what to look for and then the temp climbed really fast and it was all over. Just in time too as my arm was about to give out.

English Toffee Recipe (as observed at Accidental Hedonist, BH&G, and various other books and websites)

2 stick butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons corn syrup
3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cup rough chopped almonds
12 ounces chocolate pieces

Line a 9″x13″ pan with foil and generously butter it. Put the butter, sugar, corn syrup, and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter melts you’ll need to stir this briskly and often to incorporate the butter and sugar into an emulsion. When it thickens up you’ll want to stir it constantly so it doesn’t scorch. Use a candy thermometer and when the temperature gets to 302 pour it into the pan, cover it with the chocolate bits, wait a few minutes and the spread the chocolate out smoothly with a spatula. Add the almonds and allow to fully cool.

So today I’ve eaten quite a bit of toffee and drank a double-shot latte…no wonder I have a headache.

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December 1, 2006 | Filed Under food, sweets 

comments

4 Responses to “English toffee”

  1. Templar on December 2nd, 2006

    Now that looks absolutely scrummy. My mother (bless) used to try and make treacle toffee when I was a child but invariably it ended up harder and sharper than glass.

  2. Homer on December 2nd, 2006

    Lord, I know I shouldn’t eat Thee, but … (munch munch munch) mmm … sacrelicious.

  3. Scott at Realepicurean on December 4th, 2006

    I’m from England, and these look fine to me!

    I’m more fond of the softer version, fudge, though. Perfect when topped with delicious nutty chocolate like yours.

  4. What geeks eat… » Blog Archive » Cookie recipes on December 27th, 2006

    [...] The other cookie’s I made included Barmy Baker’s Chocolate Crinkles, Tummy Treasure’s Ginger Cookies (to which I added a tablespoon of cardamom), Barmy’s caramels, and some truffles from Smitten Kitchen, and this toffee, and Elise’s pecan pie [...]

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